Splinter of Steel
by dragoncymru
Summary: The TARDIS lands in London at the start of the Second World War as the Doctor, Jack and Katherine encounter the terrifying Cybermen! This is the third in my series of an alternative Season 3 for the Tenth Doctor and follows 'Prison of Ice'.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Elsie Turner glanced around her to see if no-one was looking and then pulled the gate to the little park open and went inside. Although it had been a fine day, the spring evenings were still a little chilly after the Sun went down and she pulled her brown mackintosh tighter around her with her belt.

She spotted their bench and walked towards it, wobbling a little on the new shoes she had bought herself only last week. Elsie still felt a little guilty about it, what with the War and rationing and everything, but thought she deserved a little treat now and again. She looked about but the small park in the square was empty except for her and a few sparrows that fluttered between the puddles of water on the pathway. She reached the bench, next to a bed of wonderful red and white tulips and sat down. She smiled at how she had come to think of it as 'their' bench after only a few short weeks, but that time had been so special. She adjusted the line of her nylons fussily and straightened her smart black and white headscarf.

Elsie checked her watch; it was a little before nine, so she was early. Time to apply a little more lipstick and mascara; Derek liked her to look her best, and she liked to look her best for him too. She delved into her small handbag and got out her mirror. She'd been so lonely since her Alf had passed on, and it had been pure luck that she had met Derek when he came into the shop. They'd clicked almost immediately and he came back for his cigarettes every day since. At least she could thank the War for that – whoever thought she would be seeing a soldier? She felt a pang of guilt for her late husband and remembered the frowning face of Mrs Barry when she had caught Derek and her whispering together in the shop. But she didn't really care; at least now she could share a smile, a cup of tea, and some quiet stolen moments.

The sound of a snapped twig made her smile; trust Derek to try and creep up on her! She heard breathing, but it sounded laboured. Then she caught the reflection of a shape in her mirror and turned around quickly. Her face contorted and Elsie screamed in terror at the thing that loomed over her.

**1.**

The TARDIS door opened quickly and the Doctor stepped out glancing around him slightly suspiciously as if he were expecting something.

The TARDIS had landed in a small fenced park surrounded by large Georgian houses. It was fine and bright, but there was also a slight chill in the morning air. Katherine followed the Doctor out and looked around her with interest. "Where have we landed this time Doctor?" she asked brightly.

"London, Katherine," replied the Doctor evenly, and then his eyes met Jack's as the Captain stepped out and closed the TARDIS doors behind him, "during the Second World War!"

"Oh," whistled Jack, and pulled a guilty face. The Chula ship hadn't been one of his better cons, they had been lucky not to have ended up wearing a permanent gasmask, but at least he had met the Doctor. "This brings back memories! Don't want to hang around here then; we could end up meeting me!"

Katherine looked bewildered but the Doctor ignored her. "Exactly," he said, and then paused.

Jack shrugged. "Let's get out of here then!"

The Doctor looked indecisive, remembering the readings on the console. "We should, but in the TARDIS, I'm sure there was……" He broke off and looked around again. "Just a quick scout about; Jack, take Katherine and get her some clothes to fit in with the period, I don't want to stand out."

Jack shrugged and nodded, and he and Katherine disappeared back inside the TARDIS as the Doctor strolled over to a park bench. With a small smile he plucked a discarded newspaper from a bin next to it. The headline on the front page read "Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain." The Doctor looked at the date. "May 1940," he breathed, "about a year before last time."

He scanned the area around him with interest; this was a fascinating period in Earth's history and one that he had visited several times before. Then he saw the unmistakeable shape of a body lying under some bushes. Dropping the newspaper, he leapt towards the body and dropped to his knees to examine it further. It was the body of a woman dressed in a brown mackintosh and black and white headscarf.

**2**.

It was all too clear how she had died. The terrible gaping wounds and bruising on her neck meant that it must have snapped almost cleanly. The Doctor reached down and gently closed her staring eyes.

Jack and Katherine left the TARDIS and crossed the park to join the Doctor. Jack still wore his usual blue grey greatcoat but Katherine now wore a pretty blue and white patterned dress with a matching white jacket and hat. She gasped when she saw the prone body in the bushes next to the Doctor. "What happened to her?" she asked, trying to hold back any fear.

The Doctor got to his feet and looked down at the woman's corpse. "She was killed," he replied sadly.

"But what killed her?" asked Jack grimly, looking around the little park for any signs of danger.

"I'm not sure," replied the Doctor slowly, avoiding Jack's eyes and letting out a breath. "You know, I have a really bad feeling about this Jack!" He gathered his thoughts. "Come on," he said to his two companions, "we don't want to be caught next to a dead body in wartime – they'll have us shot! And we can't do anything to help her I'm afraid!" Putting his hands in his coat pockets, the Doctor abruptly strode off out of the park and into the surrounding street. Exchanging a worried glance, Katherine and Jack followed him.

****************

As they left the park, a hand slowly parted the branches of some large bushes close to where the body lay, and a figure watched the Doctor and his companions as they walked away. It was a man dressed in a crumpled brown suit, complete with patterned bow tie. He was in his mid to late fifties, with thinning grey hair, pale blue eyes and a very worried expression on his lined face.

He produced a grubby handkerchief and mopped his sweating brow. He had searched the streets virtually all night, ever since he had discovered the smashed, empty table and broken door. If only he had been quicker! Now there had been another one. He took a deep breath; he had already gone too far to stop now.

**3.**

The early morning London traffic, full of cabs and red London buses covered in garish adverts, was just starting to pick up as the Doctor, Jack and Katherine walked alongside a main road from Kensington Gardens. The Doctor still had an intense expression and his eyes swept around him intently.

Katherine had never been to London before and stared about her open-mouthed before remembering her aristocratic upbringing, and tried to retain some dignity! She also struggled to keep up with her friends' long strides. "Doctor," she started, a little out of breath, "you said the Second World War? Is the whole world at war in this time?"

The Doctor nodded but didn't look at her. "Every part of the world was affected in some way or another. But this is only the start of the War for Great Britain." He glanced back at Jack who looked down, avoiding the Doctor's piercing gaze. "The worst is about to begin."

Suddenly the Doctor stopped abruptly and Katherine almost cannoned into him. He twisted his neck around and looked behind them. A middle aged man in a brown suit was perhaps fifty feet behind them, but as the Doctor stopped and turned, the man seemed to panic and ran down a side street and out of sight.

Come on!" shouted the Doctor, and ran back along the street, followed by Jack and Katherine. He got to the corner where the man had run into the side street and stopped again. The man had vanished. Jack and Katherine hurried up. "Who was that?" asked Jack, catching his breath.

"I don't know," replied the Doctor, "but he was following us I think."

Katherine pointed down at the floor. "I think he dropped something, look!"

The Doctor glanced down and his face turned to stone. "Oh no," he groaned as he reached down to pick up what looked like a sophisticated metal hearing aid with alien patterns etched onto it.

"What is it?" asked Jack carefully.

"It's a Cyber-control earpiece!" The Doctor reached into his pocket, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned it over the earpiece. "It's receiving a signal too." He looked around them with concern. "They're here somewhere!"

**4.**

Sgt. Tom Harris flinched as he saw the terrible injuries on the young soldier. He normally loved his job, but there were days when he hated being a policeman. This was one of those days. Later he'd have to go and explain to a young wife that her husband would not be coming home that night. He only hoped there were no kids involved. Even after nearly twenty years in the force, he'd still not got used to doing it. Harris got to his feet and nodded to his fellow PC to recover the body with the tarpaulin. Out of the corner of his eye he could see young PC Michaels being sick in the gutter nearby; his first time. "What could do this to a man?" Harris muttered to himself quietly, his eyes narrowed in disgust. Wiping his hand over his moustache, he straightened up, pushed back his greying brown hair, and put his helmet back on his head.

"What's happened here Sgt?" A man's voice shook Harris from his thoughts and he turned to see two men, one in a brown coat, the other dressed in a blue air-force greatcoat, together with a pretty dark haired girl.

"Nothing that concerns you sir," replied Harris automatically. "I'd move along sir, you don't want to upset the young lady; it's not a pretty sight," he added grimly.

The man in the brown coat fished a leather wallet and showed it to Harris. "I'm the Doctor, this is Captain Jack Harkness – American liaison; and Miss Katherine here is my secretary."

Sgt. Harris took the wallet and inspected the paper within. He was surprised by what he read and then saluted smartly. "Sorry sir, I wasn't expecting CID today!"

The Doctor smiled. "That's alright Sgt." His tone and expression became more serious. "Now tell me what's happened here? You've found another body?"

Harris nodded and the Doctor knelt down and lifted the tarpaulin a little to look at the corpse. The wounds on the body of the young man were even more terrible than the woman they had discovered earlier. His whole chest had been punctured by something massive, leaving a gaping, bloody hole.

**5.**

It had moved through the streets of London whilst it had been dark, but as the dawn broke it had felt vulnerable and tired, and knew it had to find a place to rest and hide. It had found such a place earlier in the night and the bushes and leaves felt strangely comfortable. Not that it could really remember what 'comfortable' meant. But it had been disturbed by an intruder that had sat so close to it. It knew it was logical to kill the intruder before it betrayed its' position.

Now it had found a new hiding pace in a lane behind some houses. There was a broken yard door that it had managed to slip through and crouch behind some old bins and wooden planks. It shook its' head to clear it of the insistent buzzing, but it didn't work. The buzzing remained as it always remained.

How long it had stayed hidden in the yard it did not know. It kept losing consciousness, slipping into a strange state of that was a mixture hibernation and inactivity.

Suddenly it opened its' eyes. Something was approaching. It would have to kill again and rose to its' feet preparing to strike, but then it paused. Faint recognition flitted through its' brain as the figure in the crumpled brown suit drew near.

********************

"That's the fifth in less than a week now!" Harris whispered, pointing to the body.

Katherine looked at Sgt. Harris with horror. "You've found five poor souls like this?" she asked quietly.

Harris nodded grimly. "That's right Miss. All round this area. All murdered brutally."

"Is there any pattern?" Jack asked.

Harris shook his head. "Not that we can see, but you're welcome to come back to the station. We have all the details there." He lowered his voice and stepped closer. "We've got to catch whoever did this as soon as we can. People are starting to talk about Nazi killers on the loose!"

The Doctor got to his feet, still looking down at the corpse as he covered it with the tarpaulin again. "I don't think the killer is a 'who'; more like a 'what'. No human could have made those wounds."

"So what is killing these people then?" asked Jack with disgust.

The Doctor opened his hand to reveal the Cyber earpiece and looked at it grimly. "Oh I think that's obvious. The question is why? And how did they get here?"

**6**.

The Doctor bit his lip in thought. "I think its time we divide our efforts! Sgt Harris, take Katherine and Jack back to the station; they'll help you try to find a pattern to the killings – not that I think there is one."

"Why bother then?" interrupted Jack caustically.

"Because you might find something, or at least establish the area we're looking in," replied the Doctor.

"What about you Doctor?" asked Katherine.

The Doctor looked down at the metal earpiece again. "Oh, I'll just have a walk around," he said breezily, trying to mask his worry. He produced his sonic screwdriver from his jacket. "If I can establish a correct frequency I can scan the area and find a source." He looked meaningfully at Jack and Katherine and then grinned. "Perhaps I'll bump into our brown-suited friend?"

*******************

The Doctor walked briskly down the street occasionally taking a reading from his sonic screwdriver as he waved it about in various directions. The whine that the screwdriver emitted was low in pitch and the Doctor knew that it wasn't picking up any of the signal that was being received by the Cyber earpiece. Frowning in concentration, he adjusted the setting and tried again. Suddenly however, and before he could take any further readings, a young woman cannoned into the back of him and collapsed to the pavement.

The Doctor turned swiftly around and attempted to help the woman to her feet. She was in her early thirties, with light brown hair pulled back in a bun to reveal a pretty, but serious face. She was dressed in a long blue coat, belted at the waist, with a matching blouse and skirt.

He smiled gently as he pulled her to her feet. "Hello! Sorry, I didn't see you there!" As the Doctor looked closer, he could see that she had been crying. Her blue eyes were red and bloodshot. "Are you alright? Not broken anything?" he grinned. "I'm the Doctor by the way – pleased to meet you!"

Embarrassed, the woman rubbed a sleeve across her face, wiping away the tears with a sniffle. "Emily, Emily Clark. And I'm fine," she half sobbed, looking back over her shoulder nervously.

The Doctor followed her gaze, but could see nothing untoward. He looked back at Emily and smiled. "I can help if you let me. What are you afraid of?" he asked quietly.

Emily met his eyes and he could see she was on the verge of hysteria. He put an arm gently around her shoulders for comfort. "Come on, what's wrong?"

The tears started to pour down her cheeks and she began to sob as all the pent up emotion got free. "It's what he's doing; what he's done! I can't stand it any longer! I had to get out!"

The Doctor held her cheeks with his fingers and looked at her closely. "What has 'he' done?" he asked.

"He's created monsters!" Emily sobbed.


	2. Chapter 2

**7.**

The Doctor's expression suddenly became very intense after Emily's shocking outburst. "What monsters?" he asked urgently, his eyes flashing. "Where are they?" He gripped Emily by the shoulders. "Tell me!"

Emily flinched from the Doctor's sudden mood change and he saw instantly that he had frightened her. His expression softened. "Please Emily," he said more quietly. "You must tell me, it's very important!"

Emily nodded. There was something about this strange man that made her want to trust him, but she couldn't quite work out what it was. Something about his eyes perhaps? "I'll show you," she said after a moment, wiping her tearful face with the back of her hand.

************************

The man in the brown suit hurried up the steps to the house, a large raincoat covering the shoulders and head of another figure that he helped up the steps. He fumbled in his pockets for the key to the house whilst the other figure crouched low, panting and breathing raggedly. After long seconds, the man in the suit found the key and opened the door. He helped his companion to his feet and half dragged him inside, shutting the door quickly behind them.

The hallway beyond was large ands spacious, but it looked a little faded; like the person who lived there had other priorities beyond decoration. The figure with the raincoat quickly shuffled along the hall until it reached a small door under the stairs. Flinging open the door, the figure threw the raincoat to the floor and stumbled down the dark steps into the cellar below.

The man in the brown suit watched with a mixture of fear and worry. He knew that time was short and that what he had done could soon be at an end. But he was determined to finish the project. He paused by a small table in the hall and unlocked a small drawer beneath it. He took a deep breath and picked a small, silver metal tube with various wire and ganglion attachments from the drawer. He knew it was a weapon of some kind, but he had been too afraid to attach or use it -until now.

**8.**

Katherine rifled through the envelopes and paperwork and passed Jack yet another brown manila file. Sgt. Harris entered the small room in the police station where he had left them looking at all the notes on the recent deaths. He was carrying three mugs of steaming hot police tea; traditionally strong and sweet. He passed one mug to Katherine, put one on the table next to Jack, and took a sip of the mug that was left. "Don't suppose you've found anything?" he asked glumly.

Jack put down the file that Katherine had handed him and shook his head in frustration. He picked up his tea and took a gulp. "Nope, the victims don't seem to have anything in common, and there's a fair area they were found in."

Katherine took a delicate sip of her tea, made a face at the sweet taste, and hastily put it back on the table. "I don't know London at all." She picked up one of the files and then a thought struck her. "Have you got a map of the city Monsieur Harris?" she asked the sergeant.

Harris nodded and went over to a nearby desk. He rummaged through some papers and after a few seconds produced a slightly crumpled map of London. He unfolded it on the table. "There you go; but we did this before and nothing turned up."

"That was before today," Jack reminded him and picked up a pen. "We have another location to add."

"No we haven't," said Katherine suddenly, her eyes lighting up. She turned to Jack. "We have two! That poor woman we found, remember!"

"You're right, the one in the park!" exclaimed Jack. "With six locations we're bound to narrow it down!"

Harris looked between them both. "You found another one? Why didn't you tell me?" he exploded angrily.

Before Jack or Katherine could reply, the door was flung open and a young policeman rushed into the room. It was PC Michaels who was with Harris when they discovered the body of the soldier earlier. He gave a hasty salute to Harris. "Sarge!" he said breathlessly. "You'd better come quick – we've found a bomb!"

**9.**

The Doctor and Emily had walked in silence through several London streets for almost half an hour. The Doctor had tried to coax more out of her but she simply shook her head and said nothing. Eventually, Emily stopped across the road from a large and impressive Georgian house. Emily still looked pale and exhausted, but was now a little calmer. The Doctor looked at her with concern. "In there?" he asked.

Emily nodded. "In the cellar," she replied quietly.

"Where else?" the Doctor smiled. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Now perhaps you can tell me you story. How do you know what's happening here? Who are creating these monsters?"

Emily's voice cracked as she spoke. "I know what's happening here because that's my home! It's my father that has being doing the terrible things!" she whispered, trying desperately to hold back the tears.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess; he's creating machine creatures?"

Emily looked at him strangely but shook her head. "No, he's been experimenting on the dead!"

The Doctor was taken aback. "Your father's name isn't Frankenstein is it?" Emily gave him a terrible, haunted look and he apologised. "Sorry. I think I'd better take a look!"

Emily nodded and avoiding the traffic, they crossed the road and Emily stopped before the steps that led to the front door. "I've still got my key," she said, starting up the steps, but the Doctor stopped her by putting a hand on her arm. He pointed to a hatch in the pavement outside the house. "You did say what was happening was happening in the cellar?"

Emily nodded. "But that's the entrance to the coal cellar and it's normally locked."

The Doctor grinned and produced his sonic screwdriver. "Not for long!" He walked over to the hatch and knelt down as Emily followed behind him. The sonic screwdriver emitted a high pitched whine and the lock sprang open. The Doctor opened the two hatch doors and peered into darkness below. "We'll have to jump; it might be a fair way down!"

Emily nodded, but suddenly there was the explosion of an energy weapon that hit the ground inches from the Doctor. He threw himself to one side and collided with Emily who wobbled on the edge of the hatch before tumbling in with a scream, pulling the Doctor with her.

**10.**

Jack looked down at the shape that had been discovered in the railway siding and shook his head. "That's no bomb!" he said grimly. "At least nothing like I've ever seen!"

Katherine, her coat wrapped tightly around her to keep out the cold wind that whipped through the air, searched the smooth cylindrical shape with her eyes. It was made from a chrome coloured metal, possibly steel, about three metres long and two metres in diameter, and had half buried itself in the grass bank on the edge of the siding. "What is it then?" she asked. "Is it dangerous?"

Jack shrugged but knelt on the ground to get a closer look. "There must be some controls somewhere!" he muttered to himself.

The police had cordoned off the immediate area, cleared away any unnecessary personnel and had called for army assistance. A worried railway official stood talking to the police a respectful distance away as an equally worried Sgt. Harris walked across to join Jack and Katherine.

"They can't understand it," he puffed, "the thing must've just turned up last night. When the railway boys came to get the engine from the siding this morning they found it." He looked down at the mysterious object. "Is it a German bomb then?"

"Jack doesn't think it is," explained Katherine.

Jack bit his lip in thought. "Bombs don't just appear do they?" He got to his feet and rubbed his hands together to warm them up. "The Doctor should see this, but" he grinned at Katherine, "since he's not here……"

Sgt Harris shook his head, realising what Jack was intending. "You're not serious are you? Why not wait for the army boys?"

"They wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. Better if I make a quick check first." Jack pushed Katherine into Harris's arms. "Get everyone back!"

Harris nodded slowly and pulled a protesting Katherine away from the object and over to the small group of police that stood a distance away. Jack grinned and waved confidently to Katherine, then turned back to the object. The grin vanished from his face and he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

**11.**

The cellar was dark as the Doctor helped Emily to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

Emily nodded and winced. She felt her head and found a large lump. "I must have hit my head coming down the chute," she said looking around her. "What happened up there? There was an explosion!"

"Well," the Doctor began, "it wasn't exactly an explosion, but it was certainly a weapon. You blacked out for a few seconds but fortunately you landed on something soft – me!"

Emily managed a smile. "Sorry."

The Doctor smiled back. "That's alright." He looked up at the ceiling. "Whoever or whatever attacked us must've closed the hatch – there's no light coming from up there."

"We wouldn't be able to climb up there anyway," Emily shrugged, "it's too steep!" She looked around the old coal cellar. It wasn't very big, not much more than ten feet by ten feet and except for a lot of dust and the odd lump of coal, it was empty. She wandered over to the only door and rattled the doorknob. It wouldn't budge. Emily turned back to the Doctor. "See, I told you it was locked!"

The Doctor produced his sonic screwdriver and suddenly the cellar was illuminated by a small blue light. "Not for long!" he grinned, and walked across to the door. The screwdriver emitted a high pitched whine for a second and with a confident smile, the Doctor pushed against the door. It still wouldn't budge. His smile faltered as Emily raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

*******************

The army truck drove up the railway siding and stopped close to where Katherine stood with Sgt Harris and the other policemen. Soldiers carrying rifles and dressed in brown combat fatigues, heavy army boots and round metal helmets, jumped down from the tarpaulin covered back of the truck.

One soldier ran up to Harris. "You got a problem with a bomb mate?" he asked cheerfully.

Harris nodded, but before he could answer further there was a shout from Jack. They all turned to see him running at top speed from the half buried object towards them. "Get down!" he yelled.

**12**.

Emily sighed and shrugged in defeat at the unyielding door. "Ah well, now what?" She searched in her pockets. "I could murder a cigarette! Want one?" she asked the Doctor.

"No," he replied sulkily examining his sonic screwdriver, "and I'm not sure you should either."

Emily produced a packet of Camels "Why not?" she asked.

"Firstly, they're very bad for you and secondly, we're in a coal cellar with a lot of coal dust. I don't think striking a match down here is a very good idea do you?"

Emily stopped abruptly and put the cigarettes and matches back in her pocket. "Good point. I suppose now we have to wait. Perhaps it was my father who locked us in. I'm sure I can persuade him to let us go!"

The Doctor tapped his chin with his sonic screwdriver. "Perhaps it was your father who shot at us!" he said and Emily avoided meeting his eyes. "What exactly has been happening here? Why involve you?"

Emily sighed. "I don't know how it started; I think he found something – he was a bit vague about that."

"Found what?" the Doctor interrupted urgently, "where?"

"I don't know," said Emily, "I'd just got back from studying Biochemistry at Edinburgh. Dad said that he'd discovered something amazing and then brought me downstairs to the cellar. There were two bodies down there – Dad said they had been 'donated' by Constantine at the Research Lab at the St. Albion's." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the name but stayed silent. "But the bodies had 'attachments,'" Emily continued, "metal and hydraulic – that Dad had grafted onto the poor devils."

"What happened next?" asked the Doctor carefully, leaning casually against the door.

Before Emily could answer, the door swung open to reveal two figures standing in the darkness beyond.

**************

The signal began automatically.

Sensors had detected an unknown life-form and disturbances on the hull. A spark of electricity jump started the systems into life. Light chasers illuminated with flashing red squares as the power built. The process would not take long – survival was paramount.

The blank eye sockets of the primary unit suddenly illuminated. It was awake!

**13.**

The soldier swore under his breath as Jack came running towards them. "The idiot! He's set it off!" He turned to Harris, Katherine and the other police. "On the ground, put your hands over your head, now!" he commanded. Sgt. Harris pulled a protesting and slightly confused Katherine to the ground as the other soldiers and policemen took cover.

But the expected explosion never came as Jack, panting and sweating, reached them. "I was right, it's not a bomb," he gasped. "It's a lot worse!"

"Then what the Hell is it?" asked Harris, getting angrily to his feet from the mud.

Jack looked at him and Katherine could see fear in his usually confident expression. "It's a sleeper ship."

"What's a sleeper ship?" asked Katherine, still confused. Jack could be as bad as the Doctor sometimes!

"It's like an escape raft when something goes wrong with dimensional travel," replied Jack, looking warily over his shoulder in the direction of the half buried ship. "It puts the inhabitants in cryogenic suspension until it makes planet-fall."

Harris shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about! This is madness!" he said scornfully.

Katherine was struggling to understand the technology and words of the twentieth century and put her hand on Harris's shoulder to quieten him. "So who's in there Jack?" she asked urgently.

There was a sudden heavy metallic clang from the ship. "Oh no, I've activated it!" cried Jack, shaking his head with frustration. "We've got to get out of here!"

Four imposing figures started to emerge from the ship. They were nearly two metres tall, with powerful steel bodies and blank emotionless faces. They started to stride towards the group of humans, the heavy march of their feet echoing on the hard ground. "You will be deleted!" they intoned in a flat, metallic buzzing voice.

"They're Cybermen!" said Jack with awe. He had heard the legends of the Cybermen from the files of the Time Agency. Now he could see that the fear they caused was indeed tangible.

The four Cybermen raised their right arms in perfect unison and without warning suddenly released a volley of deadly blue laser bolts towards the trapped humans.


	3. Chapter 3

**14.**

The laser bolts exploded around Jack, Katherine and the others with terrifying noise and light. One soldier was hit directly in the chest and instantly killed in a burst of intense energy. Before he could move his skeleton was briefly visible before being completely vaporised.

"Take cover!" yelled Jack urgently as the Cybermen advanced even closer, their deadly firepower raining down on their opponents.

The remaining soldiers took cover next to the army truck and started to fire their rifles at the robotic invaders, but their bullets just bounced off their impervious metallic chest with sparks that danced in the air. Meanwhile, Sgt. Harris rallied the other three unarmed policemen into a defensive cordon.

Katherine screamed in terror as the aim of the Cybermen improved with deadly results. Almost simultaneously, two of the police and another soldier were cut down by their fire, falling to the ground with cries and screams.

"This is useless!" yelled Jack to a shocked and shaken Harris. "We've got to get out of here now!"

Harris nodded silently in agreement, his eyes still fixed on his fallen men, their bodies twisted and still smoking on the ground.

"Get into the truck!" yelled Jack. He took a deep breath, grabbed Katherine's hand and then ran desperately towards the army vehicle at full pelt. The Cybermen's laser bolts exploded all around them but luckily they made it to the truck and jumped in. Harris, the remaining policeman and the last soldier also managed to reach the back of it without injury and threw themselves inside. Gritting his teeth, the adrenaline pumping through his body, Jack turned the keys in the ignition and the engine roared into life.

Jack pulled at a screeching gearbox and pressed his foot hard on the accelerator. With a screech of brakes, the truck shot backwards at full speed. Katherine screamed again as the windscreen shattered into a million shards and showered them in glass as it was hit by the Cybermens' energy weapons.

Jack swung the wheel around hard and wrenched the gears again, so that the truck skidded across the ground and turned to face the other way. With another squeal of the brakes, the truck accelerated away, leaving the Cybermen firing powerlessly after it.

**15.**

The Cybermen made no attempt to follow the fleeing truck, but simply regrouped. One Cyberman regarded the others. "The signal has been received," it stated flatly. "It must be located and retrieved."

The Cybermen swung around and, after a moment's pause as they orientated themselves in the correct direction, began to march away in precise unison, their heavy mechanical footsteps resonating on the ground.

*****************

Harris dared to look behind them as they drove away. "They're not following us!" he shouted jubilantly from the back of the truck.

Jack checked the wing mirror, but could see the backs of the Cybermen retreating into the distance. "That could be a bad thing!" he muttered grimly as he pressed on the brakes and brought the truck to a halt.

"What do you mean?" asked Katherine, relieved that they had escaped the terrible creatures.

"Well for one thing," explained Jack, "imagine the destruction if anything tries to get in their way. Not to mention the deaths they could cause."

Harris paled. "Oh my God!" he stammered, all victory forgotten.

Jack nodded. "Exactly, you have to contact the rest of the force and clear their way."

"Clear what way?" asked Katherine.

"That's the second thing. Those Cybermen are tracking some kind of signal, that's why they didn't follow us. Just clear a way to wherever they're heading."

Harris nodded and looked at the surviving young PC next to him. "Come on Davies," he instructed, jumping down from the truck. "We've got work to do!"

Jack turned around to face the remaining soldier. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Private Martin, sir!" saluted the nervous recruit.

"Right Private Martin," continued Jack urgently, "your job is to round up some bazookas and destroy the pod we found in the railway siding. Understand? Quick as you can now, hurry!"

"Yes, sir! Right away sir!" The young soldier hurriedly saluted again and jumped out of the truck, dashing away on his mission.

Jack took a breath and caught Katherine's eyes. She was actually smiling at him. "Seems like you've taken charge Captain Harkness!" she said wryly. "And what do we do?"

Jack grinned ruefully. "We head back to the TARDIS!"

**16.**

One of the figures in the doorway reached out and flicked a switch on the wall. The room beyond was suddenly illuminated by a single bare light bulb to reveal a makeshift laboratory. There were several wooden tables covered with microscopes, test tubes and Bunsen burners. On one bench lay rather sophisticated electronic equipment. Lining the walls were shelves that held biological specimens in jars of various sizes. A large operating table with several leather restraining straps dominated the centre of the room.

The figure nearest the Doctor and Emily was revealed to be an older man wearing a brown suit and bow tie. He had thinning grey hair, heavy jowls and watery blue eyes.

The Doctor regarded him carefully. "Professor Clark I presume?" he asked, pursing his lips in curiosity.

Emily rushed towards her father. "Dad!" she cried with relief, throwing herself into his arms, but pulled away with a shocked gasp as the figure behind him shambled forward. It was a travesty of a man combined with Cyber-technology. Half of his face had been replaced with a metal plate, complete with a blank, staring eye socket. The familiar square handles of a Cyberhead were attached to a metal skull cap. One arm had been completely replaced with Cyber technology and sported a huge metal fist. Around the torso and legs, implants had tubes that had been attached to pump vital fluids to the decaying flesh of the human body.

The Doctor regarded the cyborg with a mixture of fear, disgust and scientific interest. "My, my," he said lightly, "you have been busy tinkering down here!" He grinned. "I'm the Doctor by the way!"

Clark ignored the introduction and looked at his daughter, his face a picture of remorse and misery. "Emily," he implored, reaching out to her, "I did this for research; for science; to help Britain win this terrible war!"

"Bravo!" clapped the Doctor sarcastically. "I don't think your 'friend' here would agree with your noble motives!"

"He was dead anyway!" snapped Clark. "Any scientist needs test subjects to experiment on."

"But Dad," gasped Emily, "these are human beings!"

Clark's expression softened as he regarded his daughter. "I know Emily, but this War will claim thousands of innocent lives. This project could save them; this is such a small price to pay for that!"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes it is," he agreed. "But you don't know what you're meddling with here! This is alien technology, and you're playing with fire!"

**17.**

Clark nodded at the Doctor's warning. "I know Doctor, but I have to risk it. I can't let you stop me now. I've passed the point of no return!" A small gun appeared in his hand, pointed at the Doctor and Emily.

Emily's eye's widened in fear and shock. "Dad?" she stammered.

"I'm sorry Emily," Clark said quietly. "I know you would never hurt me, but your friend here would." He gestured to the operating table with the gun. "Lie down on there Doctor and Emily will strap you down."

Emily started to sob. "I can't believe you're doing this to us!"

"Emily, please don't argue!" shouted Clark, his voice beginning to crack. "It's either that or this creature will kill him where he stands!"

The Doctor started to walk towards the operating table. "It's alright Emily," he said soothingly. "I don't mind. Better that than end up the victim of that poor monstrosity." He climbed onto the table and lay down as Emily started to strap him down, still blinking back the tears. The Doctor looked at Clark. "That's what happened before with all those murders wasn't it? It got out……..or you let it out!"

After a moment's hesitation, Clark nodded silently. The Doctor looked over to the collection of alien electronic equipment that littered one of the workbenches. "Where did you find all that?"

"One night when I was out walking near the railway line," replied Clark. "Something had crashed; the poor devils inside were dead, but the technology………"

"The technology is alien Professor Clark!" interrupted the Doctor. Emily had finished strapping him to the table and had stepped back, wiping the tears from her face.

Suddenly there was a crash from somewhere upstairs in the house. Clark looked up nervously, the gun wavering in his hand. "Don't make a sound; if your friends have come to save you, I don't want to hurt them too!"

The Doctor shook his head as he heard heavy, marching footsteps approaching the cellar. "That's not our friends Professor. We're in terrible danger. Emily you must release me now!"

Suddenly the cellar door was smashed into splinters as four Cybermen strode into the room.

**18.**

Inside the TARDIS, Katherine watched Jack as he pressed some controls on the console and a sequence of symbols started to appear on the monitor screen. "There you go," explained Jack with a triumphant grin, "some kind of distress signal the Cybermen are homing in on. Now if I can just get these co-ordinates….." He frowned in concentration as he tapped away at the keyboard beneath the monitor.

Katherine shrugged. "Why didn't we just follow them in the truck?" she asked Jack.

"Too dangerous," said Jack, shaking his head. "They might've decided we were a threat and turned on us. This is a much safer bet." He punched in a final piece of data. "Got it! Pretty close to here actually." Jack started down the metal ramp that led to the TARDIS doors. "Come on, back in the truck!"

Katherine followed after him. "What do you think has happened to the Doctor?"

Jack paused in the doorway of the TARDIS and shot Katherine a knowing look. "Best guess? I reckon we're going there right now!"

**********************************

Emily screamed in terror at the four steel giants that marched into the cellar. The Doctor regarded the Cybermen carefully. He had encountered this version of them recently on an alternate version of Earth when the TARDIS had jumped a dimensional barrier. He tried to put on cheerful smile. "Looks like the cavalry have arrived Professor!" he called. He nodded to the restraining straps around him. "Don't mind if I don't get up!"

Clark gasped as he saw the Cybermen for the first time. "What are they?" he croaked, his mouth dry.

The steel giant regarded him impassively. "We are Cybermen," it intoned flatly.

"Always stating the obvious," muttered the Doctor. "What are you doing here?" he asked the lead Cyberman curiously. "I thought it would have been impossible to cross the Void after I closed it?"

The Doctor was struck dumb by the Cyberman's reply. "The Void has not been closed," it buzzed. "We are the advance guard for the invasion of this dimension!" It gestured to the cyborg with a massive arm. "You have stolen our technology and abducted us." It swung back to regard Clark. "You will be deleted!"

**19.**

Private Martin watched nervously as the bazookas were unloaded from the back of an army truck. He had a terrible time back at the barracks convincing his CO but fortunately Sgt. Harris had phoned from the police station and backed up his incredible story. Now at least the responsibility for the destruction of that thing in the railway siding had been lifted from him.

The Colonel talked to another serious looking man dressed in a trench coat that Martin had not seen before, presumably a government official. Meanwhile, the soldiers lined up the bazookas and took careful aim at the object from where the Cybermen had emerged.

*********************

The Doctor's mind raced at the Cybermen's revelation. "Of course!" he almost shouted. "You're the originals! This is how you sneaked through in the first place!"

Emily struggled with the straps that held the Doctor to the table as Professor Clark raised his gun and fired at the Cyberman closest to him, but the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off its chest.

The Cyberman glanced across at the cyborg that swayed back and fore, as if torn between loyalties. "Delete him!" it ordered.

Suddenly, there was the sound of running footsteps coming down the cellar steps and Jack and Katherine burst into the room.

"Get down both of you!" yelled the Doctor as two Cybermen swung around, ready to destroy them.

************************

"Fire!" shouted the Colonel.

The four bazookas loosed their missiles as one. They streaked towards the alien target and hit it directly. It exploded in an enormous fireball of flame and smoke.

************************

The Cybermen advanced towards Jack and Katherine, but then suddenly staggered, like puppets whose strings had been cut. With a high pitched electronic groan, they crashed unmoving to the floor.

The cyborg however was not affected and grabbed Professor Clark by the throat and started to throttle him.

The Doctor leapt from the table now that Emily had released the straps and grabbed a large jar of chemicals from a nearby shelf. He jumped across the cellar and smashed the jar over the cyborg's back, shattering the glass and emptying the chemicals over the creature. It gave a terrible roar of anger, but released Clark who dropped gasping to the floor as Emily rushed to pull him from danger. The cyborg staggered across to attack the Doctor, but then with an almost human whimper, fell to the floor and lay still.

**20.**

The Doctor, Jack and Katherine walked through a darkening London. The street lights were just coming on and there was a light fog in the air.

"We were lucky that the Cybermen were still reliant on their craft for energy" said the Doctor, his hands in the pockets of his long brown coat.

"But why should they be?" asked Jack.

"Because they crossed a dimensional barrier to get here," the Doctor explained. "That's not like just hopping between planets y'know! They would've needed to remain linked to save energy until they found a new source that would be modulated to their correct energy signatures. Standard stuff really."

"Why wasn't that other thing affected then?" asked Katherine, shuddering at the horrific memory of the cyborg as it lay dead on the cellar floor.

The Doctor sighed. He didn't mind explaining details to his companions, but this was getting beyond a joke. Fortunately Jack had already figured it out. "That's what was killing the people we heard about. I guess Professor Clark found another Dimension Ship a bit earlier, one that hadn't quite made it. He took some of the technology and grafted it onto that poor devil. The augmentation would've broken the link."

"Exactly, well done Captain!" grinned the Doctor, then he frowned and sighed. "They become the advance guard in what will be called the Battle of Canary Wharf in about, oh, seventy years time."

"Why didn't you destroy them then?" asked Jack. "You'd stop the battle ever happening!"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no. It's far too dangerous to go mucking about with Time. Don't know what would happen!"

They crossed the road and walked into the park where the TARDIS had landed.

"Do you think the Professor and his daughter will be safe now?" asked Katherine as the Doctor opened the door of the police box.

"I just don't know Katherine," the Doctor replied sadly. "This city will soon enter a war that will change the face of the world forever!"

"Then we'd better get out of here!" said Jack, and a look passed between him and the Doctor.

"Before Volcano day Captain?" the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow.

Jack looked guilty and pushed a confused Katherine into the TARDIS. The Doctor gave a last look around and then followed them inside. A few moments later, the lamp on the top of the police box began to flash as the TARDIS engines started and it slowly dematerialised.

Across the street, a shadowy figure wearing a trench coat watched it vanish. He raised his arm and pressed something concealed under his sleeve. His body was bathed in a shimmering golden glow before he too vanished, leaving the street empty and silent.

_**Next Time**__: The start of a two part adventure for the Doctor when he lands back on Earth in rural Wales in __**'Whispers from the Shadows'.**_

**Splinter of Steel – Confidential**

When I wrote this story I knew it would be a bit of a challenge on several levels. In many ways this is possibly the most 'formulaic' of the stories in the season – using an old enemy in the very established setting of World War II London. I knew it would be very hard going to keep it original and readers not to draw comparisons with TV shows like 'The Empty Child'. But it was a deliberate challenge as I wanted a 'familiar' story that the audience could identify with after a completely original adventure in 'Prison of Ice'.

In a very early brainstorm, the enemy was going to be a Werewolf and continue the 'Queen Victoria was bitten' plot thread from 'Tooth and Claw', but Cybermen won through as they seem to fit in so well with this period. I also wanted the challenge of writing for Cybermen (after all, werewolves just go 'roar' and 'grr'!) and it's a lot more difficult than you may think! Finally, I was a little baffled about how the original Cybermen snuck through the Void in 'Army of Ghosts' and set up shop in Torchwood Tower. Well, now you know!

There are also some tried and tested science fiction cliché characters here – the misguided Professor Clark and his feisty daughter Emily (do professors and scientists never have strapping sons?) – being great examples. It is very difficult to break the mould however and Emily is a particular cliché as 'companion of the week' that happens so many times in the TV show! I did deliberately have her break out her cigarettes to try to show that she was from another time to our usual heroines like Martha or Rose. The other cliché is 'fairly thick copper asking a lot of questions', so take a bow Sgt Harris! Harris filled the other niche of 'ally of the week'.

Funnily enough, casting for this one proved very difficult as I went on 'autopilot' on these character stereotypes and reverted to the Classic series whenever I thought about them. Having said that, Philip Glennister might be good fun as Harris!

Finally, this story gave me the opportunity to start a small plot arc as by now I had started to think about the shape of the rest of the season. But more on that next time.............


End file.
